Ukraine looks at Biden’s son’s f irm
The top prosecutor says he is ‘auditing’ relevant cases but isn’t aware of wrongdoing.
The top prosecutor says his office is reviewing relevant cases, but he’s aware of no evidence of wrongdoing.
ZHYTOMYR, Ukraine — Ukraine’s top prosecutor said Friday his office is reviewing several cases related to the owner of a gas company where the son of former Vice President Joe Biden sat on the board, but he added that he wasn’t aware of any evidence of wrongdoing by either Biden.
President Trump had asked for an investigation of Biden, his Democratic rival, in a July 25 phone call with new Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a time when millions of dollars in U.S. military assistance to the country was being held up. That has prompted the House of Representatives to begin an impeachment inquiry against Trump.
The move by Prosecutor General Ruslan Ryaboshapka was seen by political analysts in Kyiv not as a new investigation to dig up dirt on the Bidens but rather an attempt to stay in the good graces of the White House at a time when Ukraine needs Western help to deal with an ongoing uprising by Russia-backed separatists.
Ryaboshapka told reporters that his office was “auditing” relevant cases that were closed, dismissed or put on hold by his predecessors.
Several of the cases under audit are related to Mykola Zlochevsky, owner of the gas company, Burisma, that hired Hunter Biden in 2014, the same time his father was leading the Obama administration’s diplomatic dealings with Ukraine.
“We are now reviewing all the cases that were closed or split into several parts or were investigated before, in order to be able to rule to reverse those cases where illegal procedural steps were taken,” Ryaboshapka said.
Asked whether the prosecutors had evidence of any wrongdoing on Hunter Biden’s part, he said: “I have no such information.”
The prosecutor general’s office said in a statement that among the cases being reviewed are 15 in which Zlochevsky is mentioned. None of the Zlochevsky-related cases has been revived yet, the office said.
It did not specify how many, if any, were related to Hunter Biden’s work at Burisma.
Trump has said that the U.S. has an “absolute right” to ask foreign leaders to investigate corruption cases.
Asked about that by the Associated Press, Zelensky said during an appearance in the Ukrainian city of Zhytomyr that all cases under investigation are “transparent.”
Zelensky and Ryaboshapka denied being under foreign pressure over corruption investigations, although text messages released Thursday in the U.S. showed American diplomats pushing for an investigation of Biden’s son.